Sunday, October 4, 2015

crazy update!

after 4 straight days of rain - i know that a lot of you have been dealing with much more - like hurricanes and tropical storms - but after 4 days of rain and a wet dog that smelled like a wet dog - it was really nice to have this, this afternoon!

we have been taking katiyja out 6-7 times a day/night - even in the middle of the night because she makes a certain yip and then always does her business. she has learned to let us know when she needs to do her business and that is amazing for a very big dog that is still a little baby - she hasn't done her business in the house for about 3 weeks now!!!

she learns more every single day. she has completely bonded with us and us with her but the cats still can't stand her. she is 3 times their size and lunges at them every time she sees them. but she really wants to be friends. she is with us for most of the day/evening and then she sleeps in her little crate in the bathroom. we can't let her have the run of this tiny house because the cats' routine has been blown to smithereens and we don't want to put them off of their routines more than we have to. when she is let loose in the house she jumps on everything, tries to destroy everything and scares the cats! hence, why we put her in the bathroom at night.

have you ever not had proper access to your bathroom? it's good practice for SHTF let me tell you! we have our composting toilet set up in the shed...and during rainy nights it is NO fun having to go out to the shed to do your business!

but the cats are getting used to her. they keep going up to her, very cautiously, and if she gets too jumpy they swat and hiss at her. it breaks my heart, it breaks her heart - she just wants to love them. even if her kind of love is 60lbs of husky trying to jump right on top of you, lick you and treat you like a chew toy!

so we came up with this idea to slowly socialize her with the cats. we have blocked off an area of the living room for her. all of the cats like to come in the living room in the evening and watch a movie with us. we have a crate for katiyja but she hates it - she prefers her bathroom. so we have blocked off this area of the living room for her so that she can get in her crate, or go under the couch or lay in the middle of the floor - and the cats can still get on the couch, or the table, or the hutch, or the shelf and be able to watch her and socialize with her.

here it is with the door closed.

we can be on the couch - she can't jump up on things yet - she's smart but not that smart - bahahahah! we have done more research than you can imagine, we have spoken to our vet several times (she'll be getting spayed at 6 months old which should help calm her down) - we love advice and will sincerely take everyone's advice into consideration but we have learned that what works for one dog doesn't work for all - and our vet has told us to just do what our guts tell us.

our plan is to take her out and run her around with all of her balls and toys (don't forget tug-of-war between her, jambaloney and the jeans!) - and then we are going to take her into the new living room. we will sleep with her in there tonight and for the next several nights but only if she, and the cats, seem ok with this new set-up. otherwise we are going to be doing our business in the shed for the next few months.

here's nudie-noo - he doesn't wear pants and he always goes up high if the dog is in the house.

he also shows off every chance he gets to katiyja because he knows she watches intently! she loves those idiot cats but so far....they are having nothing to do with her!

sorry if i haven't been getting to your blogs - we're up to our eyeballs in harvest and trying to train and socialize this puppy...and the cats. we know a lot of people would chuck the puppy in a crate and leave her there crying for hours, or chuck her on a chain tied to a tree - but that's not how we do things. she is a new and very important member to our family...and we are really trying our best!

19 comments:

They will eventually get used to her. Or at least some of them will. One or two of our cats still don't like the big dogs no matter how much time goes by. I have found the neutered male cats seem to adjust to a dog faster and better than the females. Others mileage may vary.

PP - you'r dead right! growing up we always had dogs and cats and some cats liked the dogs but some of them just avoided the dogs. it will all play out eventually. but it breaks my heart for her because she really does want to be friends with them - but they are having nothing of it so far!!!

As I'm terrified of dogs, yes I know I'm a wimp, I'm impressed with your determination to integrate the dog with the cats. I can imagine it's a nightmare, especially going outside to pee in a shed in the middle of the night. :D

hey Joey - did you have a bad experience in your youth with a dog? but thanks for recognizing that we really are trying to integrate them - huskies are pack animals and they really need to be part of a pack and 3 members of what she perceives as her pack don't like her! it's heartbreaking!

even more heartbreaking - peeing in the shed in the middle of the night - bahahahahaha! you really get it buddy!

Harry - the vet says the same thing - that she'll be more sedate when she is a bit older and is spayed. the vet said that she will really calm down when spayed...so we are looking forward to december!!!

thank you for saying the house looks cozy - it's actually an upside-down mess right now but hey - you can only do what you can do and with the harvest and the puppy and regular life - ack! it will all get attended to!

i am glad that you moved your truck - a big tree falling on it is the last thing you need right now! and i hope that your area is done with the monsoon!!!

i've heard of them deb - just never thought i'd need one - bahahah! might have to look into purchasing some!

in all seriousness - we have a composting toilet that we are now using. we use it when we are having a day at the river (haven't had a river day in how long???ugh!) - so jam went and got it from the river and now we are using it in the hallway. it sucks but it sure beats having to go out to the shed - bahahahahah!

You have heard the difference between how cats and dogs view humans, correct?

Dog: "They provide me everything for me. They must be gods!"

Cat: "They provide everything for me. I must be a god!"

Interestingly the rabbits and Syrah the Mighty endure each other with no problem. She feels no need to chase them although she will hound the hares in our yard; They can hop right by her nose on the carpet and she will not respond.

She will come around & all will be well once she starts getting out of that puppy stage. Yes, I know it can't come quick enough but it WILL come. The cats will do what they each decide on their own. No teaching them, they will like her or not, it's not up to humans to decide for them!

DFW - you're right - she's still very young and needs to grow up a little before she'll calm down. the cats are interested but they just don't like to get too close to her. it breaks my heart tho because she is really interested in them!

About Framboise Manor

Framboise Manor is our Bug-Out Location (BOL) that we have been living in since December 2010. As can be seen by the above picture - calling it simply a "Manor" doesn't do it justice - we bet you think it is more like an "Estate", eh?

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Who Are We?

we are jambaloney and kymber. here's a pic of us below...we look very happy and content. it's because we really are!

About jambaloney

(he's only 23 in this pic...he has 20+years of additional muscle now...if you can believe it!)

kymber here and talking about jambaloney.

i've always called him my angel. my rock. my best half. the best part of what i have always wanted to become.

he has a soul as big as the biggest mountain, he is strong, he is in incredible physical condition, he is 51 and yet most people think he is under 40. he is humble and modest, charming, gorgeous and will help anyone with anything at anytime. he never grumbles and only every now and again complains or is a tiny bit cranky (nothing that a hug can't fix!). he can cut both sides out of 70 tires in minutes, build raised beds from scrap wood that he drags out of the forest, weedwhack 800ft of our road down to the river, and haul more wheelbarrows of dirt, mulch, rocks and seaweed than is probably medically-advised. he's learned how to braid, make bread and no one makes better rice - not even the chinese. he supports my every, crazy endevour. he went 44 years without a driver's license and got his license after being trained by my crazily-wonderful french canadian friend in 2 weeks. she never stopped talking the whole time. in french.

he has biked everywhere his entire life, at one job he biked 24km EACH WAY. that's to and from! 24km to work AND 24km from work! oh and just accidentally has an honours degree in philosophy.

i believe that he is Our Lord's most beautiful and perfect creation. but i might be biased. he can very accurately shoot a ben pearson cougar re-curve from both the left and right. and his aim is dead on.

he is bow-legged and only 5'7", but has the most incredible eyes. and a tiny mole on his upper lip. he writes the most romantic "insta-poems". he tells me he loves me several times a day. he calls me "babe" and "honey". and he means it.he loves hot sauce and spicey things like cayenne and banana peppers, he buys (or now picks) me flowers, he left a lucrative, high-paying IT job and his family to follow me here to this remote little island. he builds me shelves and washes all of our laundry with me by hand.

oh and he was baptized Anglican. and was an alter boy. sheesh. somehow, through my intervention, i am turning him into a pagan-christian-fundamentalist-confuscian. look, even i can't figure that out!

the name jambaloney is a nickname that i gave him over 10 years ago. he still uses it. he can be reached at "jambaloney@gmail.com". he loves comments or emails. and he loves me.

if i were given the opportunity to wish one thing for the world - i would wish that every woman on the planet had a jambaloney. i know that i could save the world this way. i have friends who have asked me to clone him. i am trying. believe me, i am trying. one day i will perfect the science involved, and when that happens, i promise all of you a jambaloney.

i love him more than...breathing, lobster, boiled dinner, fresh bread out of the oven, bugging out, singing back up for Madonna (ok...i made that one up!), fresh sheets on the bed, a glass of red wine after a long day, sunflower seeds, lavender, growing my own potatoes, T.S. Eliot, dancing, my babies (who are really just cranky old cats!) and the Bible.

i love him more than i love Framboise Manor. and i really love Framboise Manor.

About kymber

(this pic might seem odd. trust me, it's not. 20 yrs ago kymber went shopping with a girlfriend from the military and bought this dress. then she hooked up with that girlfriend recently. they caught up through email and one day kymberz friend mentioned that specific dress. kymber said she still had it (kymber still has her prom gown for crying out loud!). the friend did not believe it. so we had to take a pic of kymber wearing the 20yr old dress for her friend. kymber always likes to add accessories...and well, we had the bunny ears laying around. ya know, cuz everyone always has pink bunny ears laying around. ok, that's it...i am out of here! jambaloney)

what can i say about kymber?? A LOT!!most of it will have to wait for blog entries ‘cuz i just don’t have enough space here to do her justice…

so i’ll have to do my best… first and foremost, kymber is my partner and i will love her forever. she is the best partner anyone could ever have, i am one lucky guy!! she is 46, she is sweet as can be, smart as a whip, super cute, exceptionally feminine, strong as an ox, honest, kind, empathetic, wise, an amazing dancer, a master wit in speaking and writing….i could go on..i will!

at 5’ 1’’ she packs a wallop – a true force of nature -she is a master gardener and chef and spent 10 years in the Canadian Military – she has done 2 tours of Alert (the north bloody-cold pole). she is a UN-certified Korean linguist and spoils our 2 cats rotten. she also spent 12yrs working in the federal government, as a communications analyst at SolGen (now PSEPC) and Fintrac. she loves nature in the true sense of the phrase..the wildflowers, insects and birds here at framboise manor keep her entranced and captivated for hours.

anyone who is her friend knows that she will stop at nothing to help and heal, dedication and loyalty are an integral part of who she is and she is dead serious about anything she puts her mind to. yet she maintains the most delicate touch and a smile on her face always, never afraid to live and love no matter where and when.

she is the most genuine human being i have ever met! and she has encouraged me to embark on the most crazy and exciting adventure i could imagine… thank you babe - i sooo love you!!!